Life-raft-releasing mechanism.



W. H. 4WAREHIMVL LIFE RAFTBELEASING MECHAMSM. APPLICATION mw nec. 6.1915.

" nue/wi o@ Patemeept. 5, 1.9316. f

Cil

srarnse este.

WILLAIVI H. WAREHA'VI, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

LIKE-RAFT-RELEASNG MECHANISM.

Application filed December G, 1915.

This invention relates to a lite raft re-y leasing mechanism. l

it is a matter ot common knowledge that lite raits which are ordinarily disposed on the decks ot boats are secured tothe decks by means oi hooks or other suitable securing means 'which must necessarily be manually operated to release the rafts. It is of course .necessaiw7 to secure the raits in place inasmuch as they would otherwise shift with the raising;y or lowering?r ot one side or the other .ot the boat. The securing ot' the rafts to the decks or other supportingr means by nmehanism which must be manuallyroperated to release the raits has been found particularly disadvantageous inasmuch as their use is only necessitated at times ot distress and at such times there is a tendency i lor the persons on the boat to rush to the lil'tl boats and neeltct to release the rai'ts. The result is that when the boat sinks the rafts lwill be carried with it and consequently will be ot no value in :slavi-ner lives ot persons who have not been fortunate enough to reach the lil'e boats.

lt is therefore an object ot my invention to provide mechanism lor securing the ralts to their supports which will be automatimilly oi'ierated to release the ral'ts upon the passiner ot the supports beneath the surface of' the water.

lt is a ifurther object oi my invention to so construct the device that its structure and operation will be simple so that .it will not fail to functionproperly when the necessity arises.

W'ith these and other objects in View, such will. appear 'as my description progresses, my invention comprises the combination and arrangement oi" parts as set forth in and falling within the scope ot 4the appended claims.

in the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation ot a \con.ventional iform ot raft showing my mechanism attached theretoand in its Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. .5, i916.

Serial No. 65,389.

securing position; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same; Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the fastener at one end oi' the raft showing the same in its securing position, Fig. 4 is a similar view alt'ter the ra't't has been released, Figui is a sectional view et' the iiange 0n the base plate.

.Referring to the drawingby reference characters wherein like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the several views: For the sake ot convenience ot illustration and description, lV have shown a conventional it'orm et' rait but it is to be un vderstood that'the mechanism may be applied to various forms of rafts in use. This rait l, as shown, is supported on a deck 2 by means oit rails 3.

In order that the rait may be secured in place ,in such mannerthat it will be automatically released upon its passing below the surface ot the water, l have provided a pair ot hars t which have integral eyes 5 thereon and which are secured to the ends of the rai't by suitable fasteners t3, the fasteners being' shown in the present case as flexible members passing through the eyes 5. A plate 'i' is secured to the deck b ymcans ot suitable bolts b adjacent each end oi the raft and each o l" these plates is provided with a, llane'e i) beneath which one end of the adjacent bar t 1s adapted to engage. The

plates are vlfurther provided with upwardly extending abutments l() which are in spaced relation to the flanges and between which and the flanges the bars -t are located. rl`hc ends et the bar it are rounded, at 11, to facilitate their disenmigrement from beneath the'llangges 9. These flanges i) al@ brovided with downwardly extendingr Wings 12 to prevent the lateral movement of lthe. bars ii. The plates 7 are A'urther provided with wings 13 between which pawls l; are pivoted. 'lhe bil is ot these pawls lll are adapted to extend into sockets 15 in the adjacent end olf the bals st. rlhese pawls are maintained in this position by means of latch members 1G which are pivoted, at 17, between thc wings 13. The ends olf these latch membersv 13 engage shoulders'lB upon the pawls 1li and are provided with anti-friction rollers lf).

in order that the latch members may be disengaged from the pawls, I have provided rods 2() which extend through and are pivots of' the rods located between the Wings fornr ing the pivots of the latch members, the latch members being secured to these portions. A float 21 is secured'to the end of each of these rods 2O and is adapted to move the rod pivotally. The latch members 16 are so arranged that when the rods 2() lie parallel with the deck and the lloats are in their lowered positions, the ends of the latch members will engage the shoulders on the pawls. The raft will thus be held in a predetermined position as long as the oats are in their lowered positions. When the raft passes below the surface of the water the floats will move upwardly relative to the plates 7 and the latch members will be disengaged rom the shoulders on the pawls, being facilitated in this movement by the antifriction rollers in the ends thereof. When the latch members are disengaged from the pawls, they will bey free to rotate about their pivots to release the bars 4. As the raft rises from the deck of the boat the bills of the pawls will be disengaged from the bars and the ends of the 'bars will move from beneath the flanges 9, this movement being permitted because of the fact that the ends of the bars are rounded, at 1,1, as previously described and further because of the fact that the bars are loosely connected to the raft.

Without entering into a detailed description or enumeration of the advantages of my device it will be obvious that I have provided a device for securing a raft to its supporting means on a boat in such manner that should the raft pass beneath the surface of the water with the boat it will be automatically released so that it may rise to the surface irrespective of the position of the boat.v

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it has merely been for the sake of convenience and l do not wish to be limited to that par ticular embodiment as it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the engaging means by the upward movement of the raft.

2. The combination with a life raft, of bars on the ends thereof, plates having flanges thereon for engaging one end of the bars, pawls for engaging the other end of the bars to retain the raft in a predetermined position and automatically operated means for releasing said pawls, the said bars being disengaged from the flanges by the upward movement of the raft.

3. The ycombination with a life raft, of a bar carried thereby, a plate adapted to be secured to the deck of a boat and having a flange disposed parallel thereto, the flange being adapted to engage one end of the bar and having means thereon forpreventing the lateral movement of the bar, a pawl adapted to engage the other end of the bar, a latch for said pawl and automatically operated means for releasing the latch.

4. The combination with a life rafthaving a bar loosely mounted on one end thereof, a plate adapted to be secured to the deck of a boat adjacent the Aend of the raft and having a flange thereon, the said bar being adapted to extend beneath said flange, a pawl pivoted on the plate and adapted to engage the bar, a latch mounted on the plate for engaging the pawl and a float for disengaging .the latch from the pawl.

In testimony wheregt, I afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

WlLLIAM H.`WAREHA.M. Witnesses:

A. ELLIsoN, GEO. H. CHANDLER. 

